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A feast day tied to cannon fire says something bold about how we remember. We’re diving into the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary by walking straight through the Battle of Lepanto—where oared galleys crashed, matchlocks hesitated, and a Pope asked the world to pray. With historian and translator Ryan Grant joining us, we unpack the short, seismic papacy of Pius V, the messy politics behind the Holy League, and how a legitimized “nobody,” Don John of Austria, became the man who went when others stalled.

If you grew up with tidy naval myths, prepare for grit: tercios turning decks into land battles, Venetian galleasses not quite living up to the legend, and an Ottoman center that overreached into defeat. We test the claim that Lepanto “didn’t matter,” weigh what changed in practice and morale, and face the quieter question beneath it all: does providence still speak through history, or do we flatten everything into accident? The rosary, rooted in Dominican habit and grown through centuries of practice, becomes more than beads here—it’s a culture of attention and courage that still shapes homes, parishes, and hearts.

We also zoom out to today’s tensions: continuity versus rupture, liturgy and identity, and the risk of letting politics rewrite the past. Along the way, you’ll hear personal stories of losing faith and finding it again, the humbling truth about bishops in every age, and why the liturgical calendar is not nostalgia—it’s a map for living time with meaning. If you’ve wondered how a battle from 1571 can steady a weary modern Church, this conversation hands you the thread: pray, study, act, and let the saints change your pace.

If this resonated, share it with a friend who needs courage, subscribe for more history with teeth, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—we read them all and they shape what we explore next.

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